ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Prime Minister's Office
Principal Secretary to PM holds a high level meeting with the States of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to tackle air pollution
Cabinet Secretary to monitor the situation with these States on daily basis.
States told to monitor the situation with the districts regularly
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Dr. P. K. Mishra held a high level meeting this evening with the States of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to tackle air pollution. The meeting comes in the wake of the increasing air pollution levels leading to an emergency like situation in the NCR.
The meeting reviewed the situation arising out of stubble burning, construction activities, burning of wastes and industrial and vehicular pollution. It has been decided that the Cabinet Secretary Shri Rajiv Guaba will monitor the situation with these States on a daily basis. State Chief Secretaries have been asked to monitor the situation in the districts on 24x7 basis.
The Centre has also asked the neighbouring states to reduce fire incidents and dust levels due to adverse meteorological conditions in the last three days. Chief Secretaries of the states provided details about the actions being taken by them to improve the situation.
About 300 teams have been deployed in the field in the national capital to tackle the challenge of air pollution. Main focus is on 7 Industrial Clusters and major traffic corridors in the NCR. Similar arrangements have also been made by Punjab and Haryana and necessary machinery has been provided in the states.
Today’s meeting is in continuation of the meeting held by Principal Secretary to Prime Minister on 24th of October, 2019. The States had assured that the necessary measures will be put in place at the earliest. Centre held a series of meetings for necessary preparations to tackle the pollution problem since the high level review meeting by the Cabinet Secretary on 4th October, 2019.
Today’s meeting was attended by the Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister Shri P. K. Sinha, Cabinet Secretary, Secretary, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Secretary, Agriculture, Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board, Director General of India Meteorological Department and Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi along with other senior officials.
KSD/SNC/RP/MI
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Ministry of Minority Affairs
No financial burden on pilgrims even after removal of Haj subsidy – Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
Safety and better facilities, medical facilities for the pilgrims is the priority of the Government and there will be no lackadaisical approach on the matter said
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. He announced Haj 2019 at Haj House, Mumbai, today. On the occasion Minister said that, it is for the first time that preparations for next year’s Haj  has been started immediately after completion of the current year’s Haj process .
Shri Naqvi said online application process for Haj 2019 will be started from tomorrow 18th October, while offline application process will start from 22nd October, 2018. A total of 3,55,604 applications had been received for Haj 2018 which included 1,89,217 male and 1,66,387 female applicants.
The Minister said that early start of Haj process will ensure better facilities as well as smooth Haj process as the concerned agencies, both in India and Saudi Arabia, will get sufficient time for arrangements. Process of airlines tender will be completed by November and accommodation process in Makkah and Madina will be completed by December-January. The accommodation rates in Saudi Arabia will be same as it was in 2018. All 20 embarkation points will be functional and Haj pilgrims will also be able to go from Calicut airport.
He added that Haj 2018 was pro-pilgrims even after removal of Haj subsidy. Elimination of middlemen and 100 percent online and transparent system ensured that even after removal of Haj subsidy, there was no unnecessary financial burden on pilgrims.
In 2017, a total of Rs 1030 crore was paid to airlines for air fare for 1,24,852 Haj pilgrims. Whereas, in 2018, a total of Rs 973 crore were paid to airlines for 1,28,702 Haj pilgrims, going through Haj Committee of India. It means, Rs 57 crore less was paid to airlines this year even after ending the Haj subsidy.
Shri Naqvi said that Haj 2018 was successful. For the first time after the Independence, a record number of 1,75,025 Muslims from India performed Haj this year and that too without any subsidy. We are hopeful that Indian Muslims will go in large number for Haj 2019 in comparison to the Haj 2018.
On the occasion, Shri Naqvi inaugurated 'Viewers' Gallery' at Haj House and unfurled monumental National Flag on the roof top of Haj House, Mumbai.
This Monumental Indian National flag of size 20 feet by 30 feet on the high mast of 20-meter height has been installed on the rooftop of Haj House making it 350 feet high from ground level.
It is believed that this will be the highest tricolour installed on terrace of any building with such height .
Ministry of Jal Shakti
Heavy Loss of Lives and Property due to havoc of flood
Floods are natural calamity that India faces almost every year, in varying degrees of magnitude, leading to a loss of lives and property. The occurrence floods can be attributed to various factors, including wide variations in rainfall both in time and space with frequent departures from the normal pattern, inadequate carrying capacities of rivers, river bank erosion and silting of river beds, landslides, poor natural drainage in flood prone areas, snowmelt and glacial lake out-bursts.
National Water Mission  of Ministry of Jal Shakti has initiated “Catch the Rain” campaign in order to promote creation of Rain Water Harvesting Structures  suitable to the climatic conditions and sub-soil strata to store rain water. Drives to make water harvesting pits, rooftop RWHS and check dams; removal of encroachments and de-silting of tanks to increase their storage capacity; removal of obstructions in the channels which bring water to them from the catchment areas; repairs to traditional water harvesting structures like step-wells and using defunct bore-wells and old wells to put the water back to aquifers etc, are some of the activities suggested to be taken up with peoples’ active participation under this campaign.
Central Ground Water Board is implementing a nationwide programme of “National Aquifer Mapping and Management ” for mapping of aquifers , their characterization and development of aquifer management plans to facilitate sustainable development of ground water resources. Aquifer maps and management plans have been shared with the respective State Government agencies. Public Interaction Programs are being organized at grass root level for disseminating the tenets of the Aquifer Management Plans for the benefit of the stakeholders.
To promote recharge of ground water, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has formulated guidelines for the States to adopt measures suitable to local conditions. Adequate focus has been given on requirement of rainwater harvesting and water conservation measures in Model Building Bye Laws , 2016 and Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation  Guidelines, 2014.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti has not carried out any specific study to ascertain the extent of decline in water harvesting due to illegal encroachment of water bodies.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti & Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
Department of Space
Rocket Launching Port
Union Minister of State , Development of North Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, DrJitendra Singh informed about the status of setting up of country’s second space rocket launching port by ISRO in Kulasekarapattinam, located in Tamil Nadu in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
As per the request of Department of Space, Government of Tamil Nadu has identified 961.66.90 hectares in Thoothukudi district. Land survey is completed for 431.87.74 hectares and preliminary notification has been issued. Survey work for balance area is in advance stage.At present, one Launch Pad is being proposed at the second launch port at Kulasekarapattinam,Tamil Nadu.
Center’s policy decision of opening up of space sector for private players enables them to develop various space qualified subsystems and systems along with building of satellites and launch vehicles. They are also permitted to establish facilities and provide launch services and other space based services. Many of these services and products will definitely find global customers, which will increase India’s share in the global space sector market.
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SNC
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Ministry of Labour & Employment
Maternity Benefits to the Women Employees
Government is working on an incentive Scheme of reimbursement of 07 weeks wages for entities that provide 26 weeks maternity benefits to their woman employees as provided for in the Maternity Benefit  Act, 2017. To enable an entity to avail of the incentive, the women employees working in their entity should be a wage earner of less than Rs.15,000/- per month and a member of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation  for at least one year and not covered by Employees’ State Insurance Corporation . The scheme is proposed to be administered through Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and shall be implemented after obtaining the approval of the competent authority.
This information was given by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State  for Labour and Employment in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Malnutrition in India
Malnutrition is not the direct cause of death among children under five years of age. Though it can increase morbidity and mortality by reducing resistance to infections. Malnourished children are more vulnerable to any infection than normal children. The overall under five mortality rate  has reduced from 74.3 as reported by 3rd National Family Health Survey report released in 2005-06 to 49.7 as 4th National Family Health Survey report released in 2015-16.
This Ministry implements Anganwadi Services, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana and Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme  as targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. The details of funds allocated/released and utilized during last year under these schemes is at Annexure I, II and III respectively.
POSHAN Abhiyaanhas been launched in March 2018 to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner by leveraging technology, convergence and Jan Andolan.
The details of funds allocated/released and utilized during last year under POSHAN Abhiyaan is at Annexure IV.
This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani in Lok Sabha today.
Election Commission
Bye-elections to the Telangana Legislative Council from three Local Authorities' Constituencies.
There are three casual vacancies in the Telangana Legislative Council from Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda and Warangal Local Authorities' Constituencies. The details of vacancies are as under: -
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Name of Local Authorities’ Constituency
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Name of Member
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Cause of vacancy
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Date of Vacancy
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Date of retirement
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Ranga Reddy Local Authorities’ Constituency
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Patnam Narender Reddy
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Resignation
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11.12.2018
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04.01.2022
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Nalgonda Local Authorities’ Constituency
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Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy
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Resignation
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17.12.2018
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04.01.2022
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Warangal Local Authorities’ Constituency
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Konda Muralidhar Rao
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Resignation
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22.12.2018
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04.01.2022
2. The Commission has decided to hold bye-elections to the Telangana Legislative Council to fill the above mentioned vacancies in accordance with the following schedule: -
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-
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Issue of Notifications
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7th May, 2019 
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-
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Last date of making nominations
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14th May, 2019 
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-
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Scrutiny of nominations
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15th May, 2019 
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-
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Last date for withdrawal of candidatures
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17th May, 2019 
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-
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Date of poll
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31st May, 2019 
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-
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Hours of poll
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8.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m.
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-
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Counting of Votes
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3rd June, 2019 
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-
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Date before which election shall be completed
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7th June, 2019 
3. The Model Code of Conduct concerning these elections will come into force with immediate effect in the concerned Constituencies. Please see the details in Commission’s website under https://eci.gov.in/files/file/4070-biennial-bye-elections-to-the-legislative-councils-from-council-constituencies-by-graduates%E2%80%99-and-teachers%E2%80%99-and-local-authorities%E2%80%99-constituencies-%E2%80%93-mcc-instructions-%E2%80%93-regarding/

SBS/AC
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PIB Headquarters
BSNL "PRATIBHA" PLAN AND TELANGANA CIRCLE NEW OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF BSNL LAUNCHED IN HYDERABAD
-BSNL achieved first place in South Zone in SIM activations of 4,27,209 in the current financial year 2017-18 so far
-BSNL earned Rs.2,500 Crore revenue for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States during 2016-17
Shri L. Anantharam, Chief General Manager, BSNL, Telangana Circle launched new prepaid plan PRATIBHA of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited  today. It is meant for Rank Students of EAMCET, NEET, JEE etc in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. While addressing media conference held today at Doorsanchar Bhavan at Abids in Hyderabad Shri Anantharam said that he is handing over the SIMs to two meritorious students namely, Mr. Sai Sumanth who got the second rank in EAMCET and Mr. Karthik, who secured rank in the IIT today. The salient features of the plan are Free Data of 3GB and 300 SMS with validity of 30 days. Talk value of Rs.20 in main account. Plan Voucher cost is Rs.49.
A New official website of BSNL Telangana Telecom Circle launched by name www.telangana.bsnl.co.in . The new website offers quick and easy access to the essential information on plans, tariffs and offers of Landline, Broadband, Mobile, FTTH and all other BSNL products and specific offers of Telangana Circle. Customers can easily have access for payment of the bills and recharges on the website. The website will be updated on regular basis with latest tariff plans, offers and with the news of events of BSNL Telangana Circle.
Shri Anantharam explained several new services of Mobile, Landline, Broadband, Wi-fi etc for the benefit of customers. He said that they are going to launch 4G Wi-fi service next month in Telangana Circle. In this context, he mentioned about the various Landline and Broadband services that are in vogue. Shri Anantharam said BSNL started Re-verificatiion process of existing customers through e-KYC. With this process Mobile number will be linked to Aadhaar number through this process. It is mandatory for all existing customers to undergo re-verification for linking Mobile number with Aadhaar number. As per Supreme Court guidelines the linking is to be completed by 6-02-2018. For the benefit of postpaid customers, BSNL has enhanced the free data offered in the Post Paid Plans with effect from 1st July 2017. Installation charges have been waived off for the benefit of new Landline, Broadband & FTTH connections  for a period of one year with effect from 18th July, 2017. BSNL, Telangana circle has commissioned Wi-Fi services under the brand name "BSNL 4G PLUS" in many important locations/public places in Telangana State. As of now in 63 locations Wi-Fi services are commissioned under Phase-I, including 11 rural exchanges and 58 more locations are expected to be launched by Aug 2017. Further in Phase II, 130 more sites are planned.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Jobs to Semi-Skilled and Skilled Persons
District Skill Committees , under the guidance of respective State Skill Development Missions , are playing a key role in addressing the skill gap and assessing demand at the district level including in rural areas. The DSCs have been entrusted with the development of District Skill Development Plans  to promote decentralized planning and implementation at the grassroots. To build capacity of the DSCs and to help them manage skill development planning and program delivery, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship  attaches Mahatma Gandhi National Fellows with the district administration. The Fellows are posted as part of their academic programme in premier management institutes, which has an in-built component of on-ground practical experience. So far, a total of 512 DSDPs have been received from 31 States/ Union Territories. The DSDPs identify sectors in which employment opportunities and demand for skilling exists.
In order to address the skill training requirement of migrant workers identified under the Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan , MSDE has taken up district-specific demand-driven skilling/ orientation for sustainable livelihood opportunities for the reverse migrant workers under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana . This program is being implemented across 119 districts of 6 States namely Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The total number of migrant workers trained so far under this program is 70,823. While selecting the job roles for training, factors like placement/ job opportunity at the local/ district level, facilitation of bank loan to support self-employment, and matching of existing job roles available at the local Training Centres have been considered.
The DSDPs developed by the DSCs identify sectors that have potential for employment in the local economy. Under PMKVY 3.0, which was launched on 15.01.2021, skill training has been made demand-driven, with the DSCs identifying the job roles relevant to their district. In the long run, this would have the effect of ensuring that candidates skilled in job roles would increasingly get employed in the same region.
This information was given by Union Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Railways
Dedicated Freight Corridors of Indian Railways
The following two  sections of DFC have been commissioned and dedicated to the nation by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India:-
- Bhaupur to Khurja  of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor  on 29.01.2020.
- Rewari to Madar  of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor  on 07.01.2021.
Details of freight and freight revenue for the last three years are as under:
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Year
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Freight

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Freight Revenue

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2017-18
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1159.55
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Rs. 1,17,055.40
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2018-19
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1221.48
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Rs. 1,27,432.72
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2019-20
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1208.41
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Rs. 1,13,487.89
50% subsidy is being given in transportation of fruits and vegetable by Kisan Rail through a scheme administered by Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
In order to attract more freight business, Railways have taken a number of tariff and non-tariff measures. These, include:-
- Setting up of Business development units to inter alia actively pursue and attract freight business for rail.
- Withdrawal of 15% Busy season surcharge on railway freight for all commodities except iron ore and coal.
- Concession on long lead traffic of 15 to 20% on Coal, Iron-ore and iron & steel.
- Concession on short lead traffic of 10 to 50% for commodities 
- 5% discount on loaded Containers & 25% on empty Containers and waiver of stabling charges on Container rakes during COVID till 31st Oct, 2020.
- Specific discounts on commodities such as fly ash.
- Rationalisation of classification of industrial salt.
- Making existing schemes like traditional empty flow directions, wagon investment schemes, PFT, Siding Policy simplified and made more customer friendly.
- Debit/Credit scheme for Demurrage introduced for sidings.
- Launching of Freight Business Development Portal.
This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Minority Affairs
Nai Manzil Scheme
The Government has implemented various schemes for the welfare and upliftment of every strata, including minorities, specially the economically weaker and lesser privileged sections of the society, through various schemes of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Rural Development. Ministry of Minority Affairs specifically implements various schemes across the country for socio-economic and educational empowerment of the six  centrally notified minority communities.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs launched a Central Sector Scheme  namely Nai Manzil on 8thAugust 2015 with 50% funding from the World Bank, to benefit the minority youth who do not have formal school leaving certificate, i.e., those in the category of school–dropouts or educated in community education institutions like Madarasas. The scheme provided a combination of formal education  and skills and enabled the beneficiaries seek better employment and livelihoods. Out of the total target of 1,00,000, the Ministry allocated 99,980 beneficiaries, out of which 98,712 beneficiaries have been trained, involving a total expenditure of Rs. 456.19 crores so far. State wise/gender wise details of beneficiaries along with funds released to Project Implementing Agencies  are available at the website of the Ministry, i.e., www.minorityaffairs.gov.in.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Minority Affairs, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
Ministry of Finance
2 held by Faridabad CGST Commissionerate for issuing fake invoices of over Rs 200 crore and availing involving fraudulent ITC of Rs 31.85 crore
Central Goods and Services Tax  Commissionerate, Faridabad, of Panchkula CGST Zone, on 23.02.2022 arrested two persons for running a fake billing racket, involving five  dummy firms, dealing in trading of iron scrap, registered in Faridabad, Haryana, for issuance of fake invoices of over Rs 200 crore without actual supply of goods and availing and passing fraudulent Input Tax Credit  amounting to Rs. 31.85 crore.
A team of officers of Anti-Evasion, CGST Commissionerate, Faridabad, conducted simultaneous searches at 5 places in Faridabad on 22nd February, 2022. During the investigation, it was found that the said firms have been availing and passing on fraudulent Input Tax Credit based on bogus / fake invoices without actual supply of goods.
As per Section 132 of CGST Act 2017, issuance of an invoice or bill without supply of goods or services and wrongful availment or utilization of Input Tax Credit is a cognizable and non-bailable offence if the amount is over Rs. 5 crore.
Both the proprietors of the said firms have accepted that they have availed and passed on fraudulent ITC of Rs. 31.85 crore, without actual supply of goods to inter-state recipients and have accepted the total GST liability of Rs. 31.85 crore during initial investigation. The quantum may increase in future.
Therefore, both the accused have been arrested under Section 69 of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for committal of offences under Section 132, 132  & 132  of the CGST Act, 2017. They were produced before the CJM Court, Faridabad, on 23.02.2022 and were remanded to 14 days Judicial Custody.
Further investigation in the case is underway.